KGaA ramped up its currency hedging efforts in recent months as wild swings in exchange rates took a bite out of earnings. Merck hedges between 30% and 70% of its expected currency exposure over the next 12 months, and the company is close to the upper end of that range now, Mr. Kuhnert said.

KGaA (MRK.XE) on Thursday voiced concerns about barriers to free trade and highlighted a renewed commitment to its presence in the U.S., where it has been increasing its workforce. Trade tensions involving tariffs implemented by President Trump have thus far focused on industrial manufacturing, with pharma companies largely untouched. “We now have nearly as many employees in the United States as in Germany.

KGaA (MRK.XE) backed its yearly forecast for sales Thursday after second-quarter group sales edged up slightly, despite being slowed down by currency headwinds. Its net income fell to EUR247 million from EUR426 million. According to consensus estimates compiled by FactSet, the company was expected to post sales of EUR3.63 billion, Ebitda of EUR961 million and net income of EUR567 million.

XE) backed its yearly forecast for sales Thursday after second-quarter group sales edged up slightly, despite being slowed down by currency headwinds. Its net income fell to €247 million from €426 million. According to consensus estimates compiled by FactSet, the company was expected to post sales of €3.63 billion, Ebitda of €961 million and net income of €567 million.

KGaA’s (MRK.XE) resubmission for approval of a drug used to treat multiple sclerosis, the company said Monday. The move to review cladribine, which trades globally under the name Mavenclad, comes after the FDA nixed the company’s submission in 2011 on the grounds that there wasn’t enough data on safety. Merck said the FDA decided to grant the drug a “substantive review” after the regulator was given a beefed-up dossier with 12,000 patient years of data, including up to 10 years of data in some individual patients.

Crops obtained by plant breeding technique mutagenesis should fall under laws restricting the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), Europe's highest court said on Wednesday, in a victory for environmental campaigners. The biotech industry had argued that much of mutagenesis, or gene editing, is effectively little different to the mutagenesis that occurs naturally or is induced by radiation - a standard plant breeding method since the 1950s, but the court disagreed.

European drugmakers Roche , Bayer and Merck KGaA became the latest companies to freeze prices in the United States for the rest of 2018 following criticism by President Donald Trump over the cost of medicine. Roche did boost U.S. prices for nine key drugs by an average of 3 percent on July 1, but said it would hold off additional increases as discussions with the Trump administration continue over a longer-term solution to containing healthcare costs.

European drugmakers Roche (ROG.S), Bayer (BAYGn.DE) and Merck KGaA (MRCG.DE) became the latest companies to freeze prices in the United States following criticism by the Trump administration of the cost of medicine. Roche, Bayer and Merck KGaA all said on Friday they would not seek to lift prices this year in the world's biggest drug market, following Novartis (NOVN.S), Pfizer (PFE.N) and U.S. drugmaker Merck (MRK.N) which had already announced similar moves.

BERLIN (AP) — A Dutch company that presented the world's first lab-grown beef burger five years ago said Tuesday it has received funding to pursue its plans to make and sell artificially grown meat to restaurants from 2021.

and a top European meat processor are backing a startup producing beef from cattle cells, ramping up a race to transform the global meat industry with cell-culture technology. fuels a continuing effort to fulfill growing global demand for meat via a process that developers say requires a fraction of the resources used in traditional livestock and poultry production.

Moody's Investors Service, ("Moody's") has today affirmed the Baa1 long-term issuer rating of Merck KGaA (Merck). Moody's has also affirmed the ratings of Merck's short term issuer, senior unsecured Medium Term Note program and junior subordinated ratings at P-2, (P)Baa1 and Baa3 respectively.

Germany's Merck KGaA (MRCG.DE) said it expects its performance materials business to return to sales and earnings growth after next year as it tackles tough competition from Chinese rivals in the market for liquid crystals for flat-screen televisions. Average annual sales for the performance materials business are expected to grow by between 2 and 3 percent the year after next, said Merck, the world's leading supplier of liquid crystals ahead of Japan's JNC Corp and DIC Corp .

HANGZHOU, China/SHANGHAI, June 28 (Reuters) - In the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou, an ambulance speeds through traffic on a wave of green lights, helped along by an artificial intelligence (AI) system and big data. The system, which involves sending information to a centralised computer linked to the city's transport networks, is part of a trial by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. The Chinese tech giant is hoping to use its cloud and data systems to tackle issues hobbling China's healthcare system like snarled city traffic, long patient queues and a lack of doctors. Alibaba's push into healthcare reflects a wider trend in China, where technology firms are racing to shake up a creaking state-run health sector and take a slice of spending that McKinsey & Co estimates will hit $1 trillion by 2020.

HANGZHOU, China/SHANGHAI (Reuters) - In the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou, an ambulance speeds through traffic on a wave of green lights, helped along by an artificial intelligence (AI) system and big data. The system, which involves sending information to a centralised computer linked to the city's transport networks, is part of a trial by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. The Chinese tech giant is hoping to use its cloud and data systems to tackle issues hobbling China's healthcare system like snarled city traffic, long patient queues and a lack of doctors. Alibaba's push into healthcare reflects a wider trend in China, where technology firms are racing to shake up a creaking state-run health sector and take a slice of spending that McKinsey & Co estimates will hit $1 trillion by 2020.